Ryan’s Defense of TrumpCare

New York Magazine had an article about Paul Ryan’s defense of TrumpCare. Here is Paul Ryan explaining why the Congressional Budget Office’s finding, that the Senate bill increases the uninsured population by 22 million, does not really take anything away from anybody. Rather, eliminating the individual mandate will free them from having to buy something they hate: “It’s not that people are getting pushed off a plan, it’s that they will choose not to buy something they don’t like or want.”

Of course, that is patently false. CBO concludes that two-thirds of the people who will lose coverage will do so because of cuts to Medicaid. The Senate plans to slash the Medicaid budget by about one-third by the tenth year.

The individual market would also shrink because Republicans would cut funding for people who buy plans, rendering coverage unaffordable for millions. CBO explained that the working poor won’t be able to buy insurance because the premiums and deductibles will be too high.